Transcending Time
by Speedy Spazz
Summary: Time wears on even the toughest of substances.  But, is its destructive potential only effective against physical materials, or are the beliefs of a hero just as susceptible to its influence?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is property of Bioware and Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

()

Omega, it seemed like the most appropriate home for him considering his previous occupation, but it definitely wasn't his favorite place in the world… or galaxy.

It was all still hard for him to properly grasp.

Kill this guy, steal this thing, and protect this person, the jobs were all exactly the same as they were before and that was really all that mattered in the end.

The food may taste different, the people may not all be human, the clothing may look a bit different, and the technology may be slightly more advanced than radios with a ten-mile max operating range. But hey, in the end there was still ramen, orange still existed, and his jobs still paid for both.

Speaking of jobs, Omega was by far the best place for him to find one. Sure he could possibly go to Tuchanka and find more than his fair share, but a nuclear wasteland wasn't the most pleasing environment to work in. Omega may not have been the best place in the worl-galaxy, but even it beat that hellhole.

Nuclear war was no joke.

"They have arrived."

Naruto knew the comment was not directed towards him. Even amongst the potent smells of alcohol, sex, sweat, blood, and the bitter tears of self-loathing that dominated the club of Afterlife he could pick out the smell of a recently sterilized crew from across the station.

But, then again, he wasn't the only one which is generally why the smell was so uncommon. Newcomers were generally either too afraid to arrive or too ill-equipped to leave outside of a body bag.

The fact that these guys were able to make the fifty-yard trip from their ship to Afterlife without having gotten mugged was a testament to their skill.

Naruto held back a snort when the Turian guard opposite to him made a show of straightening his posture, puffing his chest out pompously as he fingered the trigger of his assault rifle in anticipation.

It was pretty easy to see why Aria wasn't all too confident in the effectiveness of her bodyguards. If anyone was going to make any sort of move against Aria fucking T'Loak that she couldn't handle herself, then there was no way in hell some greenhorn Turian and his Batarian buddies would be able to protect her any more than her fancy white coat did. They would become little more than two smears on the pavement within the first few seconds of the battle.

But apparently they didn't know that, which is exactly why they didn't cower in fear just from being within his very presence.

The fact that he was here meant that Aria was actually worried about someone that she thought could kill her. Sure she didn't outwardly show it, but that was also why she was so effective. You needed four things to last as a dictator: influence, intelligence, power, and the appearance of power.

Even if you were the strongest person in the galaxy, if you looked weak people would think they could kill you. Most would fail, but all it takes is one lucky bastard to get the job done.

But, apparently Aria didn't think this guy needed luck.

Shepard, if he remembered correctly.

And he always did.

Naruto didn't get where he was today by staying out of the loop, but even if you were you would have heard about this guy at some point.

Been with the Alliance since he was a wee tyke, the first human worthy to become a Spectre, stopped the dastardly villain Saren from ruining the galaxy, saved the Citadel from imminent destruction, able to shoot the eye of a Geth from some amount of miles outside of the atmosphere…

This guy was the most hyped up thing Naruto had encountered in quite a while and that was saying something.

"That's close enough."

Speak of the devil.

The sound of guns being drawn rose above the obnoxious club music as Aria's bodyguards did their best to discourage any movement from Shepard and his two followers.

Shepard didn't seem too fazed by the act of aggression, but he stopped nonetheless. He didn't signal his two guards to stand down though.

Cerberus.

That small yellow insignia on their outfits was unmistakable. The organization was quite liberal with their money.

All of the contracts he ran for them over the years had had massive payoffs and they hadn't even been all that challenging either.

The Illusive Man certainly didn't like to risk it when it came to hiring for a mission. If he wanted to kill a rabbit he would hire an atomic bomb just because he knew there was no chance of failure.

The man was also paranoid as hell. All of the contracts he had ever received from the man had been passed along by some random civilian that had been brainwashed. Usually they were under the impression that God himself had told them to deliver the slip of paper.

It actually turned out to be quite amusing when some of them were actually atheists.

Even with his extensive network of spies, it had been hard to dig up any amount of information on the head honcho of Cerberus.

Although, they did seem to be advertising themselves more and more lately. Shepard and his two lackeys were a testament to that.

'_Basic build, light weight outfit focused on augmenting shields, handling a pistol, stiff posture…'_ Naruto smirked. _'The textbook biotic boy scout.'_

Lazily shifting his gaze to Shepard's second companion, Naruto couldn't hold back a slight nod of approval.

'_A firm C cup, full lips, tight butt, provocative posture, outfit revealing more than enough curves to distract any lesser man both inside a firefight and out.'_ Naruto's smirk grew. _'And an exceptional biotic also versed in the ways of the glorious pistol. I approve.'_

"Stand still."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the overconfident Batarian as the thug began his scan of the fully armored legend standing in front of him. Not too surprisingly the scan came to an abrupt halt when Shepard seized the thug's collar before pulling him closer.

"Try it and you'll be scanning the inside of your colon." The gruffness behind Shepard's creative threat was only enhanced by the voice filters of his N7 helmet.

'_Makes sense that he would want to keep himself covered up in a place like Omega.'_ Naruto thought, glancing at the visor of Shepard's helmet. _'Being on a sterile ship for any amount of time before coming here is likely to weaken your immune system enough to give you twenty different diseases after taking your first breath.'_

'_Although the other two seem to be doing fine; probably has something to do with their biotics.'_

Naruto was soon cut from his musings, however, as Aria's voice rose above the background noise of the club.

"I'd almost pay to see that." She said, seeming to hold back a laugh.

Funny, Aria T'Loak didn't laugh.

Ever.

Apparently there really was something about this Shepard character that put her on edge.

"But it's not an option. You want to talk, you get scanned."

'_And that ladies and gentlemen is why she was the local dictator. Such a flawless visage of calm confidence could only be achieved with true tact.'_ Naruto thought, seamlessly stepping out of his cozy spot in the shadows when Shepard hesitated in releasing the Batarian.

Swiftly taking hold of Shepard's wrist before anyone was aware of his sudden appearance, Naruto gave the appendage a quick twist, prompting the esteemed hero to reflexively release the disgruntled bodyguard.

"Hey, hey, we're all friends here." Naruto said, releasing his hold on Shepard's wrist before the man could attempt to remove it himself. "There's no need to be so hostile."

Offering Shepard a toothy smile as he stepped out of range of any possible attacks short of a bullet, Naruto held back a chuckle as the man began to gently rub his wrist through his armor.

Naruto could practically feel the heat of the man's glare as he attempted to size him up through his visor, but using a little burst of something special to discourage such an action Naruto coaxed the man into standing down.

"Good boy." Naruto muttered cheekily as the Batarian resumed his scan.

It was kind of funny. All of his sources had told him of how Shepard was the ultimate hero, helping old ladies cross the street when he wasn't busy saving the world. But yet, here he was, threatening a common Batarian bodyguard with unconsented penetration.

Maybe his personality curve had something to do with the fact he was reported dead for two years. Cerberus wasn't exactly above brainwashing people and the fact that an Alliance boy scout like Shepard actually even considered wearing their clothing certainly hinted at some form of psychological manipulation.

But, then again, his change of heart could just as well be attributed to either his environment or the person he was trying to talk to.

Many a good man had completely lost their bearings within clubs. Take Lee for example, that man truly became a beast when faced with both alcohol and scantily clad women in the same room.

Also, the fact that Shepard was attempting to talk to a tested dictator may have given him the impression that playing the tough guy act may have gotten better results than blatant ass kissing.

He was of course correct in that assumption, but if that threat was all he had in his 'bad boy' arsenal, creative though it was, that laugh of masked uncertainty that Aria just gave would be the best he was going to get tonight.

Especially after he backed off like an injured puppy after getting his wrist twisted.

"They're clean." The Batarian said, returning to his post as Aria finally turned to face Shepard.

"I heard you were the one to see if I had questions." Shepard began.

'A very passive start.' Naruto thought, taking position to the left of Aria. 'Looks like Shepard lost contact with his inner tough guy.'

"Depends on the questions."

'The flawlessly vague response of a true politician, what else would you expect from Aria.'

"You run Omega?" Shepard asked.

This time, Aria laughed outright, you could practically hear the tension in her body being expelled with each condescending chuckle.

Well at least Naruto could.

That was a textbook stupid question if he had ever heard one, but then again, when you've been dead for any amount of time I guess you can be entitled to at least a couple of those. But either way, that question along with his poor reaction to being manhandled had just taken Shepard a few pegs down on Aria's threat meter.

Anyways, Naruto made a point of shamelessly staring at Aria's ass while she made quite the show of strutting up to the edge of her personal balcony overlooking the club.

"I am Omega." She announced, making some grandiose gesture with her arms that accentuated her breasts quite well.

'_It's hard to beat an Asari.' _Naruto thought.

Once again turning to face Shepard, Aria took a few strides forward.

"But you need more." She said, making a point of maintaining eye contact with the commander as she came to a stop just within the limits of his personal bubble.

It was a testament to his willpower that he didn't look away and he did a good job of not backing up, but the sudden stiffness in his posture told Aria all she needed to know.

She remained there for only a split second before turning away and striding across the length of her balcony.

"Everyone needs more and they all come to me. I'm the boss, CEO, queen if you're feeling dramatic."

'_Her voice was actually quite nice to listen to.'_ Naruto thought, his eyes trained on her hips as she continued her monologue. He was pretty sure both of Shepard's companions were glaring at him, but truthfully he didn't much care.

An ass like that is not something to be ignored, especially when it's on display.

'_But it looks like the show's over.'_ Naruto thought, the object of his gaze being consumed by the soft leather cushions of Aria's booth. _'Damn it.'_

"Don't fuck with Aria."

'_Ah, the classic one rule speech.'_ Naruto thought fondly. _'She only gives that one to people she believes can fuck with her, all the others she just killed. Unless of course they could be useful, then she would just scare them into servitude.'_

"Sounds like neither of us likes being jerked around."

'_Oh, so Shepard still has some bite in him.'_

"And on your ship that would matter. Here, we entertain my preferences."

'_And Aria shuts him down like the pro she is.'_ Naruto thought as Shepard moved to take a seat on the opposite side of the booth. _'Really you would expect the first human Spectre to be a bit more tactful when negotiating with important people, but then again I suppose he has Councilor Anderson to do that for him now.'_

"I'm trying to track down Archangel."

That broke Naruto from his thoughts.

"You and half of Omega." Aria said. "You want him dead too?"

"I'm putting a team together. He's on my list."

'_Well shit.'_

Killing Archangel was going to be his very next contract after this. In fact the only reason he wasn't on that contract right now was because Aria decided to flag him down before he had left.

She had said that it would only take a few minutes and that he would get to see a very interesting person.

And, she also said she would owe him one… She had said that with a particular glint in her eye and an impressive sway of her hips.

Naruto knew he had been manipulated, but he would be damned if she didn't pay up.

"They've got him cornered, but it sounds like they're having trouble finishing him off."

Oh right, Archangel.

He had had one other contract dealing with the local vigilante. Apparently one of his teammates tried to shoot the wrong person. Naruto was told to make sure he didn't do it again.

That was one of the more difficult jobs he had taken in a while, Archangel may be ruthless when it came to dealing with mercenaries, but when it came to his own teammates the Turian was nigh fanatical in keeping them safe.

It had taken Naruto three whole days just to get a sliver of an opportunity to kill his target. It would have probably been easier to kill the whole group, but that would mean doing extra work for free.

Naruto never worked for free.

He may have done it a couple times when he was younger, but as the years go on you learn that favors are a good thing to have.

Although, you want to get the favors from people you can trust. And for Naruto, he could trust everyone.

Why? Because, he had lots of very pointy objects that no one wanted to have lodged up their ass.

But the mercenaries weren't exactly paying him with favors. All three of the major groups had pooled their resourses trying to kill Archangel and his sidekicks. And, when that didn't work, they decided to pay Naruto to do it.

They had put quite a bit of money on the table and Naruto wasn't too keen on passing it up. But even so, fighting Shepard over it was not something he was all that excited about doing. It wasn't so much the fact that Shepard may have been an above average fighter, but rather the fact that both the Alliance and Cerberus might get a bit angry with him if he had to kill Shepard a second time.

'_I'll have to work fast.'_

"Maybe I'll come back later."

Naruto was once again knocked from his musings as Shepard rose from his seat and began to descend the balcony stairs.

"Maybe I'll be here." Aria responded smoothly, watching Shepard and his two companions make their exit before they were out of sight.

"Told you, you had nothing to worry about." Naruto said, plopping himself down on the booth a great deal closer to Aria then Shepard had even dreamed of.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Aria asked, her eyes refusing to acknowledge Naruto's existence.

Naruto chuckled at that.

"Alas my queen, indeed I do." Naruto said a tone of mock sadness in his voice as he made an obvious effort to close the distance between the two. "And now with Shepard seeking out Archangel, it seems even your payment will have to be delayed."

"What a shame."

Naruto laughed once more, draping an arm over Aria's shoulder before leaning closer to her ear.

"Don't worry my queen." Naruto whispered, a smirk dominating his features when Aria twitched against the touch of his golden blond locks. "This just means you'll have something to look forward to."

"Well you better not die then." She said, her eyes only now moving to watch as Naruto rose from the booth.

"There is no need to worry my queen, this fox didn't get where he is today by dying." Naruto said, flashing Aria one last grin before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

The bodyguards gaped after the legend of a mercenary made his famous exit, leaving a smiling Aria in his wake.

()

AN: Well there's the chapter hope you liked it.

This story just sort of came to me after I was reintroduced to Mass Effect with its third installment. The game was phenomenal by the way, but really that ending was just pathetic. It's really disappointing that Bioware would pull a stunt like that with possibly the greatest trilogy they ever produced. But, their making a new ending so hopefully that will provide for a more adequate ending to a more than adequate story.

Anyways, I would really like to now how you feel about the story. Do you like how Naruto is portrayed, do you want Shepard to be more of a renegade or paragon, do you want Shepard to keep his helmet on at all times so you can relate to him more, do you want him to be more of a secondary character, etc. Reviews are both encouraged and appreciated.

Until next time…


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Well you guys have spoken and it seems like Shepard will be mostly paragon, but he will at times vary his strategy and go the renegade route depending on his situation as suggested by Shihouin Shunshin. Because like he says, a neutral Shepard is a lot better than specifying because he is a lot more balanced and multisided rather than the one-dimensional Shepard that Bioware rewards you for playing.

The helmet is coming off, but I will be using the default Shepard appearance for the story.

And also, as Liger01 puts it, we all have probably played the game so we already know Shepard's story. As such, I am going to be focusing the vast majority of the story telling Naruto's, and how his presence has affected the Mass Effect universe.

Finally, Vandenbz has agreed to proof read my stories and fix up the grammar mistakes I am often susceptible to, so a big thanks to him.

Well that is all, now on with the story!

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is property of Bioware and Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

()

Rapping his fingers against his armrest in impatience, Naruto failed to stifle a yawn as the constant drone of his trusty hover car gradually lulled him into a state of inattentiveness.

He would have played music, but some nameless salarian had decided to shoot at his car during his last contract. Naruto had been able to get all of the major bodywork fixed up, but that was about all they had time to fix before he wanted it back.

Course the bastard would hit the most important thing on the vehicle aside from the engine.

It had been a one in a million shot, mere inches past Naruto's head, straight though the open window and directly into the CD player.

Do you have any idea how hard those were to come by?

Naruto would have gladly taken the bullet himself if it meant he wouldn't have to start downloading songs like some young punk. Call him what you like, but there was just something about having a tangible CD that provided the assurance that software didn't.

Naruto knew as long as he took care of that CD he would always be able to play his music. But now, if someone wanted to ruin your day they could do it without even knowing what you looked like, all they needed to do was type a few things into their damned computers.

'_Or I suppose they would be using Omni-tools nowadays.'_ Naruto thought idly, leaning back a bit further in his luxurious leather chair as he gave the control panel in front of him a few swipes. _'But then again, the still have those things they put on their desks with the holographic orange screens. Are those still considered computers?'_

It was at times like these that Naruto came to appreciate the simplicity of a kunai. A sharp piece of metal that killed people if you threw it hard enough, it was something that hadn't changed over the course of the years.

That and ramen.

Good old ramen.

Although Omni-tools weren't all that bad, while it had taken Naruto a couple of lessons to learn exactly how to use it to just its minimum potential he couldn't deny that the thing was damn useful. And it was also orange, so that was a plus.

Naruto jerked himself out of his trance just as his car floated down onto the filthy concrete of Omega.

Exiting his vehicle, Naruto noted a dull popping sound before striding into the merc groups' temporary base. It made sense for him to sprint given the circumstances, but that wouldn't have been as cool now would it.

The speed at which that car was able to travel never ceased to amaze him. It had taken a top of the line reactor from the black market and a heavily upgraded collision-avoidance processor, but it had definitely been worth it.

Sure he didn't use his car much anymore for the sake of remaining incognito, but it was times like these where it really shined.

Naruto may not have been the best when it came to technology but he knew something good when he saw it. And hover cars were definitely something good, especially when they were painted neon orange.

()

"How are the teams underground doing?"

"Worthless bastards haven't even set the charges yet."

"And the gunship?"

"Still being repaired."

"Damn it! Then send in the next wave of freelancers, I want Archangel dead by the end of the hour!"

"Yes sir!"

Naruto halted his stride for a moment to let the young messenger run by before making his entrance into the rundown warehouse they called a meeting room.

The warehouse was actually pretty old school when it came to modern standards. Concrete slabs for walls reinforced by a steel frame, it was refreshing to see that such a thing still existed in a world filled with high tech space ships and structures built from entirely artificial alloys.

Although, it would have been a whole lot more refreshing if the concrete wasn't crumbling and the steel wasn't rusted with age. That and the massive piles of scrap metal and rejected building materials scattered throughout the warehouse weren't the most homely of furnishings.

The large number of vorcha weren't the most pleasant of houseguests either. There also wasn't any air conditioning.

Okay so it wasn't refreshing at all. In fact it was one of the worst sights Naruto had seen today.

Scrunching his nose up in disgust as the putrid smell of varren feces and unbathed merc assaulted his highly trained nostrils, Naruto came to realize why roses weren't all that bad to sniff.

Skillfully maneuvering his way through the horde of junk that had been carelessly sown about the floor by the resident parasites, Naruto worked his way towards the planning table in the middle of the warehouse.

The dreary red haze characteristic of Omega's skies clearly illuminated the three beings seated around the table through a rather large hole in the ceiling that probably wasn't included in the building's initial construction.

"Quite the place you got here." Naruto announced, smoothly ascending the last few steps leading up to the table before finishing his approach. "Mind if I take it after we're done?"

Looking up from their running argument on how to kill Archangel in preparation to yell at the newcomer for interrupting, the three merc leaders soon felt an unsettling numbness over take their bodies when they realize who had spoken.

"Uzumaki." Jaroth blurted out, hastily drawing his hand away from its place atop his pistol. "I didn't hear you come in."

"It's about damn time." Garm grumbled.

The krogan was a little more sluggish to let go of his shotgun, but a disarming smile from Naruto and a subtle feeling of death ultimately convinced him to put it down in the end.

"Sorry I'm late." Naruto said, his voice perfectly even despite his pleasant facial expression. "So what did I miss?"

"Blood." Garm said, a demented smile working its way onto his lips. "Lots and lots of blood."

"When you didn't arrive we started throwing large groups of freelancers at Archangel's base." Tarak said.

"And I'm guessing they weren't able to get the job done." Naruto said, sliding into the cold metal chair they had so graciously provided.

Tarak shook his head the negative, "They didn't even come close."

"So you're telling me that not a single one of them have gotten a shot off at him? I know they may not be the best soldiers, but numbers can get the job done. All it takes is one stray bullet to end a life."

"If you don't have shields." Jaroth quipped. "But, unfortunately Archangel does."

"How big are the groups you're sending out there?"

"The first few were about sixty people strong, but after a few waves the freelancers began to drop down to about forty." Tarak said. "The group we just sent in had about twenty five."

Naruto snorted, "That's a damn lot of people. I don't care if half of them went in bare fisted, with that amount of people aiming in the same general direction something is going to get destroyed shields or no."

"That's only if they're shooting at the same time." Jaroth said, gesturing towards the crude picture on the table. "As you can see, there is a bridge directly in front of Archangel's base and it's only wide enough to hold six freelancers side by side."

"Really? That's a bridge?" Naruto asked skeptically as he drew a finger along the squiggly inscription etched onto the metal face of the table. "I couldn't tell."

"Either way, the freelancers were able to injure four of Archangel's men before we decided to send in the gunship." Tarak resumed, giving time for Jaroth to silently vent. "We were able to bring down three more of his men with it before they were able to blow out one of its engines."

"Bring down? That doesn't sound very permanent." Naruto said.

Garm growled at this.

"Unfortunately, Archangel was able to pull his teammates out of the fire before we were able to finish them off for good." Jaroth said with only a hint of anger in his voice. "We also have reports that despite their injuries, two of the seven that have been injured still insist on fighting."

Truly it was rare to see an angry salarian. Frightened yes, frustrated yes, threatening yes, but angry… not so much.

"Garm has sent some of his men underground to blow their way into the basement, but they have yet to make any real progress."

"So what am I dealing with here?" Naruto asked as he leaned a bit further forward in his chair. "Give me the final rundown."

"Archangel is holed up in this two story building with ten other allies." Jaroth said, gesturing towards a rather large rectangle on his map. "He has four people stationed on the first floor. Two are guarding the main entrance while the other two are positioned near the windows on either side of the building. Meanwhile he and the last operational member of his team have positioned themselves near the window overlooking the bridge on the top floor."

"We have a heavy mech on standby that we can send in when the next wave of freelancers comes in, but we won't be sending in any of our people until the gunship gets fixed." Tarak said.

Naruto looked at him strangely, "You think I need backup?"

He wasn't sure what exactly caused it, but for some reason Tarak felt like he had made a mistake.

"No." Tarak said, fighting down the urge to stutter. "That is not what I meant."

Tension hung in the air, while Naruto stared at the batarian for a moment before offering him a bright smile. "Good, because I work alone. You should know that by now."

Rising from his chair in one fluid motion, Naruto heard Tarak begin to breathe again.

"Well gentlemen, pack your shit and call off your demolition squad, I want you out of my warehouse by sunset."

()

"I don't like this. They're taking too long to send in the next wave."

Taking one more scan of the bridge through the scope of his sniper rifle, Garrus clicked his mandibles under his helmet in anticipation before lowering his rifle. "Something's up."

"They could just be waiting for more volunteers." His squadmate quipped, turning away from the window to properly regard his leader. "After all these last few waves have been pretty thin. I wouldn't be all that surprised if they were waiting for a few more to pile in before sending them in, at least that way we would be more pressured in a lengthier firefight."

"That would make sense, but it's not their style." Garrus said, his eyes locked firmly on the bridge. "All three of them want us dead and they think the fastest way to do that is to keep hitting us as soon as they are able. Jaroth is the only one of the three with anything resembling a brain and even he is severely lacking when it comes to long-term tactics."

"So what do you think they are doing?" His teammate asked.

"Something I don't like. These mercs may not be clever, but they sure as hell have some dangerous toys." Garrus said, sparing the salarian a fleeting glance before returning his attention towards the bridge. "I just hope we're ready for them."

"You've got to loosen up."

Garrus's eyes widened momentarily as he swiveled around to face the door. The sight of a turian limping through the doorway clutching his left side greeted him.

"You should be sleeping." Garrus said, moving to help support him.

"Damn right I should be." The turian groaned, allowing Garrus to help him limp over to one of the nearby couches. "And by all rights, I shouldn't have woken up from it. But, luckily my fearless leader wanted me to live. So thanks for that."

"Your teammates are the ones that deserve the thanks not me." Garrus said, while he eyed the turian's bloodstained bandages with worry before easing him onto the couch. "You should go back to the room down the hall."

"I'll be fine." The turian said as he motioned for Garrus to return to his place at the window. "I highly doubt a stray bullet is going to get through to me. And I'm sure if one does you'll be there to take it for me, being the hero that you are."

Silence settled over the room as the two snipers did another scan of the bridge.

"How are they?" Garrus asked, his eyes never leaving the scope.

"They're alive." The turian said. "Every single one of them is going to live when we get through this."

"If." Garrus said curtly, lowering his rifle once more. "If we get through this. We shouldn't get too sure of ourselves yet, that gunship may be down but it's not out and I wouldn't put it above the merc leaders to lead a charge of their own once they run out of volunteers."

"We will be ready." The salarian said with a ghost of a smile. "You've gotten us this far and I doubt they'll be able to stop you from taking us all the way."

Garrus's didn't verbally react to his words, keeping his sights locked onto the bridge before shifting his mandibles once more.

"You know that it's because of you right?" The turian asked after a brief of silence. "Without you we would have died a long time ago."

"That's not true."

"Damn it Garrus don't give me that." The turian said. "Sniping enemies before they were able to get off the final shot, drawing the ire of a krogan to bring the heat off your allies, jumping into a hail of fire to save their asses. You're like one of those heroes you see in human vids."

"I was conscious enough to see just who it was that dragged my useless carcass across the floor back behind cover." The turian said, staring at Garrus's back as he subconsciously applied a little more pressure to the bullet wound in his right side. "I should be lying on the floor in a pool of my own blood with more holes in my body than can be accurately counted. But I'm not, instead I'm here with only one because you threw yourself in-between me and a gunship."

"I owe you my life. Hell half of the team owes you their lives. Can't you at least feel proud of yourself? Can't you at least say that no matter what happens, I gave these people a second chance?"

Silence once again settled over the room as Garrus continued to stare at the bridge lost in his own thoughts.

"How touching."

Garrus's mind went into overdrive as he snapped his head to the right to face the new voice, but a dull 'thunk' behind him caused him to turn further. He was able to see his teammate's body fall limp on the couch before a strangled grunt behind to his right caught his attention.

"Drop your weapon."

Turning once again to face the new attacker, Garrus's body began to the automatic process of aiming his rifle even as the recognition set in.

Spiky blond hair, blue eyes, whisker marks on each cheek, and a black coat with a thin orange outline. It was an image he had yet to forget.

Snarling as he set his sights directly onto Naruto's smug grin, the sharp clatter of a gun hitting the floor knocked Garrus out of his red haze. It was then that Garrus realized Naruto was using his salarian teammate as a meat shield.

"I won't repeat myself." Naruto said, tearing the pistol out of his hostage's holster before Garrus could so much as pull the trigger.

Gunshots filled the room as Naruto unloaded two shots into the side of Garrus's sniper rifle to skew his aim before focusing his fire onto his hostage. As soon as he realized what was happening, Garrus's eyes widened and he was quick to drop his rifle, but Naruto didn't stop firing.

The salarian's shields glowed bright blue as they reflected the first series of bullets away from his person, but under the pressure of Naruto's trigger finger even they were forced to yield even before Garrus's sniper rifle had hit the ground.

A pained wail echoed throughout the base as a couple bullets tore through the salarian's thigh. His legs attempted to give out for under him but Naruto's firm grip prevented him from collapsing in agony.

'_They had to have heard that.'_ Garrus thought, stealing a glance at the stairs inside the base. _'At least one of them should be on their way up the stairs.'_

"Looking for something Archangel?" Naruto asked, causing Garrus to snap his head forward once more. "I wouldn't have made such a ruckus if I didn't think I could get away with it."

Garrus felt his blood run cold.

"Take off your helmet."

Garrus hesitated before glancing at the turian on the couch, _'First Sidonis and now-'_

Yet another gunshot rang through the air along with a pained gasp as Naruto gave the salarian a nice little hole in his foot.

Garrus felt his hands race to the edges of his helmet as the groans of his teammate plagued his ears. He knew he had made a mistake as soon as he dropped his sniper rifle, but being able to get it back before the blond could react didn't seem all that possible.

Releasing the seal with a lengthy pop, Garrus's senses were assaulted with the foul stench that filled the whole of Omega.

'_So, it is him.'_ Naruto thought with a grin as the helmet fell to the ground. '_Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec officer, skilled sniper, son of an influential father…'_

Naruto's grin widened, _'And a close friend of Commander Shepard.'_

_'I see potential.'_

Refocusing his thoughts, Naruto noticed Garrus's mandibles seemed to be twitching more and more. He had never really been good with reading aliens after spending so much time only having to deal with humans, but he had a general idea of what that particular movement implied.

Sure enough, Garrus was on the move not a moment later. Gripping his pistol in a burst of motion, Garrus launched himself at Naruto and his hostage in one explosive movement.

Gunshots tore through the air as Garrus unloaded a couple rounds of his pistol in quick succession in hopes of disorienting the local blond before he paused to focus his fire on the blond's firearm.

But, just as Garrus began to pull the trigger once more, the room was suddenly flooded with a thick cloud of smoke. Eyes widening in surprise, Garrus caught a faint glimmer of light before two thumps echoed though the room.

'_A desperate last stand.'_ Naruto thought as he scooped Garrus's helmet off the ground before waving a bit of the smoke out of his face. _'I didn't think he would risk provoking me when I had his buddy, but I suppose it was either that or hope that I would play nice.'_

"Everyone meet me at the top floor." Naruto announced though the radio in Garrus's helmet. "I think I've found something."

Leaning Garrus's sniper rifle against the wall as a couple of his clones hid the three bodies, Naruto took his position near the window overlooking the bridge.

He only had to wait a couple of moments before the door slid open.

Garrus's last four teammates filed into the room with their guns at the ready as they quickly scanned the room before approaching Naruto.

It was a female human that spoke first.

"What exactly did you find Garrus?"

Naruto smirked before reaching into the one of the pockets of his jacket.

"This." Naruto began, slowly withdrawing the object from his pocket. "This is a scroll."

()

Shepard felt something was off as soon as he vaulted over the barrier separating the mercenaries' base from the bridge. The smell of rotting bodies slammed against his face with such raw intensity that even his helmet's filters weren't able to come close to neutralizing it.

Every square inch of the bridge was decorated with a shiny new paint job as well as a wide variety of corpses. Krogan, humans, batarians, vorcha, salaraians, turians, even the occasional asari could be easily found as long as you decided to look down.

"To have killed so many… Archangel and his team must have managed to hold out for quite some time." Miranda said evenly, stepping through the pools of blood, both blue and red without so much as a twitch.

"You make it sound like he got killed." Shepard said, his voice echoing despite the lack of decibels.

"What else could have happened to him? Being who you are, you should know that mercenaries don't just sit back if the thorn in their side isn't a bloody mess on the floor." Miranda said flatly. "Archangel is dead. The only reason we have to come here is to confirm it."

Choosing to forgo responding for the moment in favor of holding his breath, Shepard pressed his back against the wall before pivoting though the doorway. He scanned the entirely of the bottom floor through the scope of his rifle before taking a few tentative steps inside.

"Looks like nobody's home." Jacob commented, following Shepard into the house with his own assault rifle at the ready. "It's not that surprising seeing as no one shot us while we were crossing the bridge, but I expected to see a couple dead bodies at least."

Shepard couldn't help but agree. Bullet holes littered the back wall in massive quantities, shallow craters littered the floor, and there were various splatters of blood both blue and red in a couple places. But, the only dead body in the room was a man two inches in front of the doorway that was bisected, presumably by some type of biotics.

Mercs weren't known for cleaning up after themselves and there wasn't a single piece of evidence as to why the defenders would leave. They obviously weren't being overrun if the only person that was able to get across the bridge died within a couple inches of the entrance and they didn't have any secret escape route they could go through otherwise they would have used it right after they had been attacked.

But, illogical or not, the fact remained that there wasn't a single corpse present in the room besides the unfortunate freelancer.

"Up the stairs." Shepard said, while he carefully approached the staircase in the back of the room. "Alive or dead, we'll likely find Archangel up there."

After a speedy ascent, Shepard took his team into a room tucked away to the left of the stairs. Again there was blood, a lot of blood, but no bodies in sight.

Either the mercenaries had gotten their hands on some kind of super weapon capable of select vaporization, which was highly unlikely, or they took the dead bodies for some reason or another.

Then again, it wasn't too much of a stretch to think that Archangel and his team weren't actually dead when they were taken, but rather still alive and sensitive to torture. But even so, that was something Shepard didn't want to spend much time thinking about until he absolutely had to.

Making their way down the hall towards the final room in the building, Shepard felt a bit of apprehension as they got closer and closer to the door. It wasn't a feeling he got often and it definitely wasn't one to be ignored.

As such it was with great care that he peeked around the corner into the room before inching his way inside with an itching trigger finger. Whether it was from their own senses or the actions of their leader was unknown, but either way Jacob and Miranda mirrored his movements as they too edged their way into the room.

They had gotten halfway to the window overlooking the bridge when a blob of orange and yellow garnered their full attention.

"Don't just stare. Come! Come! Take a seat, there is much to talk about."

It was with years of experience that Shepard prevented himself from pulling the trigger on a possible civilian, but Miranda and Jacob had less of a restraint.

In less than a second the couch lost a great deal of economic value via a hailstorm of high velocity metal shavings.

"Now that that's off your chest, come sit with me. I would feel absolutely terrible if you stood."

Shepard felt his heart skip a beat as he swiveled his head to face the man. Blond hair, blue eyes, a unique outfit, and a very distinctive grin; aside from the fact that he wasn't filled with bullet holes something else caught Shepard off guard about him.

"Weren't you one of Aria's bodyguards?" Shepard asked, keeping his rifle raised despite the recognition.

"Indeed I was. But let's stay on topic here." Naruto said cheerily before patting the seat cushion next to him. "Take a seat Shepard, I believe we have much to discuss."

Shepard failed to miss the glint in the man's eyes.

"I believe it regards a potential recruit of yours. A certain Archangel if I'm not mistaken."

()

AN: Well there's the chapter hope you liked it.

After the next chapter I will be picking up quite a bit in story progression, so if you are feeling like the story is going slowly right now don't worry about it too much until after the next couple chapters. Then, if you're still feeling the same way, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

As always reviews are both encouraged and appreciated.

Until next time…


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is property of Bioware and Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

()

A momentary silence settled over the room as Shepard leveled his gaze on the blond enigma before him.

Taking a tentative but firm step forward, Shepard began the process of deciding if that particular action had been a good idea.

Jacob and Miranda had their pistols trained on the man's forehead with their trigger fingers at the ready. And the blond didn't appear to have armor capable of sustaining kinetic shielding.

Straightening his posture while holstering his assault rifle in one deft motion, Shepard relaxed his muscles and lengthened his strides as he closed in on the couch.

As long as he stayed out of melee range, his own shields would be able to take any punishment the man could dish out in the fraction of a second it would take for either Miranda or Jacob to put a bullet in his head.

Eyeballing the couch as he swiftly gauged the minimum safe distance his intuition would allow, Shepard casually adjusted his direction.

Of course, the man could simply be another hologram seeing as he wasn't filled with holes from Jacob and Miranda's previous outburst, but it was unlikely seeing as holograms didn't usually have cloaking devices. And there was no way that the blond could simply appear out of thin air on two separate occasions without the use of one damn good cloaking device.

Slowly lowering himself into a relatively comfortable position on the couch where he could clearly see the area behind his two companions, Shepard turned to face Naruto.

"So what can you tell me?"

'_Little hesitation, relaxed movements, tactically sound positioning, and an even tone of voice.'_ Naruto's smile grew. _'Maybe this guy has more tact than I thought.'_

"I could tell you many things Shepard. Why don't you tell me where to start?"

"Can you tell me where Archangel is?"

"I can."

A moment passed before Shepard spoke once more.

"Where is he?"

"Why would I tell you that?" Naruto asked, feigning innocence as he tilted his head to the side.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"There are plenty of reasons." Naruto said. "And it's your job to convince me why I should ignore them."

"You want to know what you will get from this." Shepard said bluntly, a slight frown hidden underneath the metal of his helmet.

'_He's not one for games.'_ Naruto mused. _'Not a good trait to have when you're trying to negotiate.'_

"That's not the worst thing you can tell me in this situation." Naruto said cheerfully.

"I can tell you something you might be able to keep." Miranda said coldly, casually shifting her grip on her pistol.

"Not the best start, but a start nonetheless." Naruto said, his grin never fading. "But, you selfish bastards are still a long way from convincing me to giving you what you want."

That was new; "You're calling us selfish?" Shepard asked.

"Don't sound so surprised Shepard, I don't care how much of a legend you are in the Alliance or outside of it. The fact remains you just came in here and demanded information from a stranger at gunpoint." Naruto said, with a convincing tone of frustration.

"Archangel could be dead or dying, while you're sitting here trying to bargain with me." Shepard said blandly. "So forgive me if I'm not too keen on manners."

"I can assure you that Archangel is neither dead nor dying Shepard." Naruto said. "But, the way this conversation is going, I doubt it will stay that way for long."

"You sick bastard." Jacob spat bitterly. "Bargaining someone's life for your own benefit. I hate people like you."

Naruto's immediate response was to recoil in mock shock.

"Forgive me for asking sir, but did your companion not do the same thing just a few moments ago. She just used my life as a bargaining chip so that you three could gain knowledge of Archangel's whereabouts and you didn't even glare at her. Sure she's hot and all but seriously man, morals shouldn't take a backseat to sex drive." Naruto chided.

"So what is it that you want?" Shepard asked, retaking the reigns of the deteriorating conversation.

"Lots of things." Naruto said, causing Shepard to roll his eyes in exasperation. "But how about we start with credits. Everyone wants money and it is relatively simple to distribute compared to something like power or influence."

"How much?" Shepard asked evenly.

Adopting an over exaggerated thinking position, Naruto hummed for a moment before his eyes lit up.

"1.2 million!"

"Are you insane?" Shepard exclaimed, his eyes wide in utter disbelief.

"What?" Naruto asked. "You don't think someone's life is that valuable? You know, many krogan price a single one of their testicles at 10,000 and they have four. So you don't think a life is thirty times more valuable than a full set of krogan testicles? Your boy scout must hate you."

"No." Shepard said firmly, swiftly rising from his seat on the couch as he looked away from Naruto's mirthful gaze. "I am not paying that amount."

"Do you expect me to lower it?" Naruto asked, while Shepard began to make his way back towards his team. "I'm surprised Shepard, I had thought Garrus would have been more important to you."

A sudden pop filled the room as Shepard halted in his steps. Swiveling around to face the thinning layer of smoke as his mind processed Naruto's words, Shepard's eyes registered the face of a turian.

His eyes may have been closed but that was a face even two years of death hadn't erased.

Reacting on years of experience, Shepard swiftly tore his pistol from its holster as he launched himself forward. Almost immediately two gunshots rang though the air following yet another pop.

Another burst of smoke filled the room as the newly arrived salarian's eyes snapped open from the sudden pain. Shepard ignored it though as he thrust his arm forward in an attempt to grab hold of Garrus.

Shepard's fingers brushed against the sleek material of Garrus's under-armor jumpsuit and began to close around the turian's arm when another pop rang through the room. Shepard's vision was flooded with smoke and the feeling against his fingers simply disappeared.

His blood pounded against his eardrums in a deafening symphony and his eyes darted around the room as the smoke was quickly filtered out of the window, allowing him to view the remaining three people in the room.

Shepard cursed at the missed chance.

"Treachery is an effective way to get what you want for very little, but you've got to do it right the first time otherwise it will only make things worse." Naruto's grin grew. "Much worse."

Shepard knew he was in a bad position.

He had touched him. Holograms can't be touched, holograms don't produce smoke, and even the reaper-influenced geth hadn't been able to make a hologram that realistic. Especially when they didn't have a tangible template.

Thus, it was with a drawn-out sigh that Shepard slowly lowered his pistol before motioning his team to do the same.

His life had just gotten more difficult.

"So." Naruto said clapping his hands together. "How does 2.5 million sound? Because to me it sounds like an apology."

Shepard grimaced. He wanted to say no, but considering the fact that this guy was the only source they had to find Garrus and he had just tried to end his sentient existence the blond should have probably been a whole lot more angry than he was.

Hopefully if he took the deal now they would be able to make the trade with Garrus still alive at the end of it. He just hoped this guy really did care about money more than he did life.

"Fine." Shepard said, holstering his pistol completely.

"Great. We'll make the trade at the docking area in one hour." Naruto said as he made his way out of the room.

This wasn't right. That was way to smooth for a guy that had nearly been killed a couple seconds ago.

Shepard bit his tongue, he didn't really want to leave Naruto alone while he could possibly… summon? Garrus, but there wasn't really much he could do.

"Fine, but Garrus must be in the same condition he was in now when we make the trade." Shepard said.

"3 million then?"

"…Fine."

Naruto grinned as he passed through the doorway. "It was good doing business with you."

Oddly enough Shepard didn't agree.

()

"That wasn't too bad." Naruto said to himself, as he carried a nameless turian into a nondescript room in an unimportant location.

The turian had been only one of the hundreds of victims that had been massacred by Garrus and his squad on the bridge. A clean hole through the center of his chest had forced him to let go of his worldly existence.

And now he was clothed in the armor of his own executioner.

It was a shame that he wasn't there to see the irony of the situation. It would have been entertaining to see his reaction when he was told he was going to die to save the man he was trying to kill.

But he wasn't there, he couldn't see the irony, and he wouldn't be reacting in anyway other than decaying so there wasn't much sense in thinking about it. Instead, Naruto had to think about maintaining his image.

Carefully placing Garrus's helmet on the turian and shaking it to check for snugness, Naruto smiled with satisfaction before a terrible glint shot through his eye. The sound of tearing flesh filled the room before it was gradually illuminated with a soft blue glow.

An explosion soon followed.

()

The mercs stared at the body in wonder.

"So what do you think?"

Tarak looked up from the mangled corpse to see Naruto repeatedly throwing Archangel's helmet up as though it were a ball, though the torn remnants of a neck told of its continued occupation.

"I approve." Garm mumbled, a sick smile taking hold as he stared at the bloody mass at his feet.

Naruto really didn't want to know exactly what he was thinking of at the moment.

"You certainly don't seem to have held back." Jaroth said as he looked up from the body just in time to catch the helmet-covered head.

"You'd be surprised." Naruto said lowly, while Jaroth settled his gaze on broken visor and the wide eyes held beneath it.

So these were the eyes of the man that had killed his brother…

He stared at them for a moment before dropping the thing to the ground and stomping on it.

The bastard deserved more.

"As we agreed." Tarak said, motioning for his lieutenant to activate her omni-tool.

"One and a half million." Naruto confirmed, stretching out his arm as he activated his own.

Tarak simply nodded as his lieutenant approached Naruto and transferred the credits with a simple swipe of her arm.

"Well then my job here is done." Naruto said before he began to depart from the base, offering the three a casual wave. "Don't be strangers."

()

"Shepard, I heard about what happened on Omega."

'_Of course you did.' _Shepard thought bitterly as he stared at the man with barely contained contempt. "And?"

"And I'd like to make an offer."

Had Shepard still been wearing his helmet he would have openly sneered, but as it was he simply sneered anyway. He had nothing to hide. "That so?"

The Illusive Man nodded, "I assume that you don't currently have the necessary funds to go through with the value you and his captor agreed upon. Based on this assumption I am willing to offer to transfer you the necessary credits so long as you agree to make one more addition to your team. An addition of my own choosing of course."

"Do I look like I'm in a position to say no?" Shepard said pointedly, he got enough of this bullshit from that blond twenty minutes ago. "You and I both know that you're my only option right now, so go ahead, by all means make your addition to the team. But if he and I don't get along, don't be surprised if he were to die on a mission."

"I would be quite surprised." The Illusive Man said eerily before taking a drag of his cigarette. "I will have Miranda summon my choice to the ship in the near future, I hope you will be ready for him."

And it was with those words that Shepard's hologram flickered out of existence.

Shepard frowned as he slowly made his way out of the com room, pointedly ignoring a beep from his omni-tool indicating a transfer of credits. If nothing else, the Illusive Man was fast, but that was probably only because he had already assumed that he would agree to his terms.

Truly Shepard should have treaded a bit more lightly when negotiating the life of Garrus, but the Illusive Man never seemed to get offended anyway so what was the point in willingly cooperating with him?

The man was a prick.

()

Naruto eyed Shepard and his two companions briefly as they faced down in the middle of some nondescript alley. "I trust you have the money."

Shepard gave a brief nod before firing up his omni-tool.

Naruto nodded in return, before withdrawing an object from one of his coat's interior pockets. The alley was too dark for Shepard to actually see what the object was or what the man was doing with the object, but whatever the man had done was followed by a familiar puff of smoke.

Naruto placed a firm grip on Garrus's bound hands before directing his gaze at Shepard.

"Are you satisfied?" Naruto asked, carelessly twirling the unconscious turian around to give Shepard a full view of him.

"Wake him up." Shepard said, clenching his fist in anxiety when Naruto frowned.

"Okay." Naruto said slowly, looking at Garrus before looking back at Shepard. "Are you sure?"

"…"

"Fine."

And, without further ado, Garrus was promptly woken up with a swift slap to the face. His eyes snapped open in an instant and his body jolted into activity as the stinging sensation in his left mandible came to the forefront of Garrus's mind.

The first conscious thought that passed through his mind expressed a strong desire to hurt whatever had caused the sensation, but the inability to move his arms soon replaced that thought with one of confusion and worry.

Garrus turned his head to the side in an attempt to get some kind of view of what was holding him in place, but his neck allowed no such view to be given. Undeterred, Garrus was in the process of turning his head to the other side when his attention was shifted towards the rather interesting group of figures in front of him.

Shepard watched with baited breath as Garrus stared at them for a moment before his eyes seemed to drift towards Miranda. His eyes shone with confusion once more before they once again drifted over to Shepard.

Garrus blinked a couple times before shaking his head to remove any remaining lethargy. He looked at him again.

"Shepard."

His voice was calm, curt and laced with both confusion and disbelief.

"Garrus."

"Mind telling me what we got ourselves into this time? I seem to be a bit fuzzy on the details." He once again attempted to move his arms. "Hopefully it all went according to plan."

Shepard chuckled softly; "I'm sorry to say it wasn't all rainbows and roses this time Garrus." He sighed. "This one's going to cost me."

Garrus's eyes once again flashed with confusion, before he suddenly found himself walking forwards. His past few hours in unconsciousness prevented him from immediately noticing the slight pressure on his back that was causing him to move, but years of experience allowed him to quickly put two and two together.

This was a hostage situation and he was the hostage, but how in the hell had he become one? He glanced towards Shepard once more and his mind flashed back to his last time on the Normandy.

It was not the most pleasant of memories. He had seen the thing get reduced to molten slag from his escape pod as lasers from an unknown ship tore it apart within minutes.

Shepard was pronounced dead within the month and what was left the crew had gone their separate ways. Yet here he was, looking like he had just finished with the Normandy's basic sterilizing procedures.

He didn't look at all like he had been dead for any amount of time, let alone two whole years. So where the hell had he been all this time?

Certainly, Garrus should have been a lot less calm than he was considering the circumstances.

"Three million."

Garrus's mind jolted at the voice. It had come from behind him so apparently it was that of his captor, but it seemed so familiar.

He distantly saw Shepard nod his head before his omni-tool disappeared just past the edge of Garrus's vision, a sliver of orange the only thing remaining.

Orange.

Garrus's eyes widened.

The beep of the omni-tools was quickly overtaken by the roar of Garrus as he tore his arms out of Naruto's hold before rounding on the blond. Quickly lashing out with a vicious kick aimed towards Naruto's midsection, Garrus's mandibles clicked with rage as his foot fell just short of his target.

"Garrus." Shepard said with some amount of urgency, while he began to undo his bindings. "I'd rather not start an alley fight where you and your silky jumpsuit have a good chance of getting a bit more airy."

Snarling as the wire holding his arms together fell limply to the ground, Garrus began to take a step forward when he felt a firm tug on his shoulder. He didn't have to look behind him to know it was Shepard, so instead he simply opted to continue giving Naruto a death glare.

"What did you do with my team?" Garrus demanded as his body fought against Shepard's tightening grip. "Where are they?"

Naruto shrugged, "Who knows?"

Shepard nearly lost his grip.

"But, I do know where they could be. Provided enough incentive of course." Naruto eyed Shepard's omni-tool suggestively.

Shepard frowned, "You want more money."

"Very good Shepard." Naruto said as he began to clap. "We're already beginning to understand each other."

Shepard scowled, "How much."

Naruto glanced at Garrus for a moment before redirecting his attention back towards Shepard. "Well Garrus here cost three million and all life is equal in the eyes of a saint and he had a team of ten people…" Naruto began to count on his fingers mockingly. "Yeah it's not looking too good for you Shepard."

Shepard cursed as he was forced to tug on Garrus's shoulder once more to keep him from mauling the blond. He hadn't planned for this. He didn't exactly have thirty million credits readily available at the moment. In fact he didn't have thirty million credits period.

His only foreseeable option at the moment would be to ask the Illusive Man to give him the money again, but Shepard really didn't want to have to think about what the man would ask of him in return.

Leather was the first thing that came to mind and Shepard failed to fight back the resulting shiver.

"The Illusive Man is willing to provide the necessary funds for their release." Miranda said, capitalizing on Shepard's moment of hesitation. When all eyes had fallen on her, some lower than others, she continued. "If you would accompany us to the Normandy, I can assure you will be compensated."

Naruto looked at her strangely, "You want me to go onto your ship?"

"My thoughts exactly." Shepard mumbled, as he attempted to look slightly less surprised by Miranda's sudden proclamation. The last thing he needed was for Naruto, or Garrus for that matter, to suspect that he was held out of the loop.

What ever became of what she was planning, one thing was certain. He and Miranda would be trading a couple words later on.

"The Illusive Man has expressed his wishes to see you in person. I promise no harm will come to you during your visit. I will see to it myself." Miranda said as she shifted her body in such a way that…

"I'm in!" Naruto cried, quickly spinning on his heel as he powerwalked to the end of the alley. "Don't just stand there, we've got places to go and people to see."

Making a point of looking at Miranda before walking into the street, it wasn't long before Naruto disappeared past the corner of the building.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Shepard noted the fact that he was going in the right direction. But, in the very front of his mind, Shepard noted the fact that Miranda had just summoned Naruto to the ship.

()

AN: Well there's the chapter hope you liked it.

Well school just got out for me and I now have more free time than I know what to do with, so I would say it is safe to expect faster updates in the near future.

Also, the introduction to the story should be completed with the next chapter, so from there it will really start to speed up and get into the Naruto-Mass Effect Character interactions that I am sure you are all looking forward to. After all, this is a crossover for a reason.

Until next time…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is property of Bioware and Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

()

Shepard scowled as he snapped a gesture towards the sparsely populated street before stalking out of the alley.

He wasn't having the best day that much was certain.

Right when he had exited the Normandy he had been hit with the most putrid stench he had smelt in his both of his lives. Then he had been forced negotiate with the local dictator and get a few bones in his wrist cracked by a certain blond haired menace.

Next he had to play nice with three mercenary leaders and take their bullshit without any violence. He then meet the blond once again who informed him that Archangel was really Garrus and that said Garrus was his hostage. After that Shepard was forced to agree to pay three million credits for his release or, more accurately, get screwed by his saintly benefactor to obtain three million credits.

Then the blond haired pain in the ass had the audacity to demand thirty million credits for the release of Garrus's team. Finally, Miranda all but told him that the blond was going to be his new crewmember.

So, it was because of all this that Shepard had forced himself to keep his mouth shut as he, Garrus, Miranda, and Jacob made their ten-minute journey back to the Normandy. It would have been nice to catch up with his old friend, but now was definitely not the time for either of them.

Garrus was glaring straight ahead at what was in all likelihood a mental representation of the blond bastard, while Shepard himself was glaring at the back of Miranda's head. Surely idle chitchat was the last thing that would be coming out of their mouths at the moment.

()

Naruto whistled a jaunty tone as he waited for the four to arrive, allowing his mind to wonder over recent events.

While Miranda's seduction wasn't the most unpleasant thing in the world, she still had a long way to go if she wanted to use it to convince him to do something he didn't want to.

If he was overly worried about getting mugged by following them onto the Normandy then a little eye candy wouldn't get him to change him mind. A lot of eye candy might change it, but that was hardly the point.

Garrus cared about his team far too much to risk losing them and Shepard already knew that Naruto and his "magic" was the only link he had to obtaining them, so it was unlikely that he would try betraying him again even if they did have the home field advantage.

But, his personal safety aside, Naruto was more interested in why the Illusive Man wanted to see him. The first and only reason he could think of would be to hire him for a job, but the question was: What would the job be? And, more importantly, how much money would he get from it.

Based on previous experiences with the man, Naruto had a feeling the answer to the second question would please him by itself, regardless of the first.

Feeling a slight increase in heat on the center of his forehead, Naruto shifted his gaze from its place in the clouds to meet Garrus's unrelenting glare. In all honesty, it was unnerving as hell for him to see a lizardman giving him the eye while his jaw moved about by itself.

It was a look that a human would be very hard pressed to pull off.

"Ah, it looks like we're all finally here." Naruto said, casually redirecting his gaze away from Garrus as he approached the door to the dock. Lightly tapping the back of his finger against the metal, Naruto turned his attention toward Shepard. "I don't seem to have the keys on me at the moment, so if you wouldn't mind…"

Shepard was not amused, "How did you know where my ship was docked?"

"Isn't it obvious Shepard?" Naruto said, tilting his head to the side innocently. "I've been stalking you. I turn into a hopeless fanboy whenever someone so much as whispers your name. You should have seen what I did when I first saw you in person."

"You nearly broke my wrist."

Naruto shrugged, "The contact excited me. I couldn't control myself."

It was at this point that Garrus found it hard to maintain his glare on the blue-eyed mercenary. Hard, but not impossible.

Keeping a wary eye on the blond as he approached the door himself, Shepard subtly shifted his body to prevent Naruto from seeing the panel as he swiftly typed in the passcode.

On the off chance that the Illusive Man wasn't planning to hire Naruto into his crew, Shepard didn't want the mercenary to know how to get onto the ship. It was a highly unlikely chance he knew, but hey, a man could hope.

The door slid open in one smooth movement as the group of five proceeded into the decontamination chamber. Taking a brief glance around the room as what looked to be a blue laser began the process of serializing everyone present, Naruto idly noted the fact that he was surrounded.

Jacob was in front of him, Miranda was behind him, and Shepard and Garrus were on either side of him. All of them were staring at him intently and all of them, save Garrus, had their hands near the holster to their pistols. Garrus himself was sporting a rather sinister grin on his face to accompany his challenging glare and he seemed to be holding his sniper rifle.

Where he had gotten it, Naruto didn't know. That in itself slightly worried him.

All in all, Naruto felt like some kind of high class VIP.

Naruto nodded at Shepard, "The meeting is in 0800 hours. I trust you will get me there safely."

"What?"

A beep sounded signaling the end of the sterilization and the door to the Normandy slid open with a whoosh, interrupting any response.

'_Living the dream.' _Naruto thought smugly, taking pride in Shepard's look of utter bewilderment as his escorts ushered him though the door and onto the deck of the Normandy. _'And you wonder why life never gets boring for me.'_

"The comm room is just ahead." Miranda said, drawing Naruto away from his thoughts as they continued their trek across the Normandy's bridge. "The Illusive Man will have a channel opened up as soon as you attempt to establish a connection."

"He's already ready?" Naruto asked as he eyed the ship's shiny interior with some amount of envy. "I figured he was a busy man, making mysterious plans and embarking on shady business ventures. It seems strange that he would meet with me directly, let alone wait for me to meet him."

Naruto's wandering gaze soon settled on Miranda's face, "After all he has never done this before."

"Recent events have led him to alter his means of doing business." Miranda said cryptically, returning Naruto's gaze for a moment before they passed through the door to the armory. "I assume this situation is no different."

"I see." Naruto said, redirecting his gaze from her stony visage toward a rather unique looking shotgun on a nearby weapon rack. "So would these recent events have anything with Shepard's apparent resurrection and new affiliation with Cerberus or is that merely a happy coincidence?"

Silence was Naruto's response, as both Miranda and Shepard seemed to be avoiding his questioning gaze.

Naruto chuckled, "Must be above my pay grade I guess. Too bad."

"We're here." Jacob said, jabbing his thumb towards the door as he tracked Naruto's every movement. "Want to get this over with so you can be your way?"

"Well since you asked so nicely."

Both Jacob and Garrus glared at Naruto's back until the door finally shut.

Shepard shook his head; Jacob wasn't going to be happy when he realized that Naruto would be his next teammate. And it was going to be next to impossible to recruit Garrus onto his team with both the blond and Cerberus coming along for the ride.

Crossing his fingers as he gestured for Garrus to follow him into the lab, Shepard held onto the slim chance that, maybe, just maybe, he would get lucky.

()

Having already circled the table once in an effort to find some indication of how exactly he was supposed to establish a communication, Naruto stared at the little blue panel in front of him before giving it a slow, deliberate tap.

In response to his action, the table jerked for a moment before gradually sinking into the ground. Naruto looked at the new free space in appreciation for a moment before adding moving furniture to his mental grocery list right alongside shiny metal.

Taking a couple steps forward into the newly formed circle in the center of the room, Naruto watched curiously as what looked to be a cylindrical grid of lasers rose up from the glowing circle on the floor.

The grid did not last long, however, as the area around him seemed to faze out of existence for a moment before reforming to depict a whole new environment.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Tearing his eyes away from the glaring red sun directly behind the speaker, Naruto directed his attention toward the head honcho of Cerberus himself, _the_ Illusive Man

Naruto basked in the man's full glory as he took a drag of his very common looking cigarette while sitting pretty in his pathetic looking chair.

It wasn't even leather.

"I imagined so much more." Naruto said sadly. "That is a nice suit though. And your contacts do look pretty awesome."

For one fleeting moment, the Illusive Man's face shifted from its omniscient neutrality. Naruto savored that moment.

"It has recently come to my attention that you wished to receive payment for the release of Garrus Vakarian's team of operatives." The Illusive Man began.

"And it has recently come to my attention that you wished to speak with me about an unrelated matter." Naruto returned.

"That is correct Uzumaki, but I would prefer to get this out of the way first before we begin that particular discussion." The Illusive Man said, taking a dignified sip of what Naruto assumed was some kind of generic whiskey.

So disappointing.

"Fair enough." Naruto said.

"Then if I'm not mistaken the agreed value was thirty million credits." The Illusive Man said, enticing a nod from Naruto. "Good, I have already had the funds transferred to Shepard's account for the time when you wish to make the exchange."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Well that was easy. No yelling, no insults, no violence, no rejection, no tears, no broken he-" Naruto coughed awkwardly. "Anyways, it's almost as if you're trying butter me up and get on my good side."

Naruto grinned, "And, if that's the case, then you're doing a good job of it. An obvious job, but a good one nonetheless."

"Then I suppose now would be a good time to make my proposal." The Illusive Man said as he took another drag of his cigarette.

Taking his time to exhale the smoke before placing the spent cigarette in the ashtray, the Illusive Man linked his hands together and assumed the classic bargaining position.

His eyes held Naruto's for a number of seconds before he finally spoke, "I want you to join Shepard and his crew on their mission to combat the Reapers."

Naruto's second eyebrow joined the first as something stirred in the back of his mind. "You mean those massive doom machines that Shepard was rambling about for the better part of a year before his sudden disappearance? If I remember correctly, one of them attacked the Citadel at some point and did an impressive bit of damage before Shepard and his buddies saved the day."

"You are correct." The Illusive Man said evenly. "And, we expect the attack on the Citadel was only a small preview of the things to come. Through Shepard, Cerberus is working to combat the growing threat of the Reapers and I have a feeling that your skill set will greatly aid us in that goal."

"You mean Cerberus is working to defend humanity from the growing threat of the Reapers." Naruto said. "Not saying I don't agree with what your organization does, but don't try to skirt the details. It won't do you any good."

Naruto shrugged disarmingly, "But, attempted deception aside, I'm afraid I can't accept this contract."

The Illusive Man seemed unfazed, "You have yet to hear the contract Uzumaki."

"Maybe, but you don't get far in life without being able to form your own conclusions. Well at least not my life. You want me to join Shepard's crew, you said that directly. But, you didn't say how long this would take or how completely I would be subordinate to Shepard, or you for that matter. And, from what I just heard, I conclude that I'm not going to like the answer to either of those questions. Also, there is the fact that I may be forced to face instant vaporization at some point if any of any of the vids I've seen are at all accurate."

The Illusive Man smirked, "True, but I also never told you how much I would be willing to pay you."

"Oh? And you think that will change my mind?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side in obvious doubt. "Then do tell."

()

"So what have you been up to these past couple years?" Shepard asked, placing his helmet on the counter before leaning against the edge of the doorway. "Hopefully getting kidnapped hasn't been an often occurrence."

Garrus smirked, "No it was just a one-time thing. Pick a fight with the right people and I suppose it was bound to happen at some point, either that or something a bit more permanent." He chuckled as he glanced at Shepard. "Well, permanent for some people."

Garrus shook his head as he began to pace around the room, "It's funny, you had just about everyone convinced that you had "gone down with the ship," as you humans say. The Council, the Alliance, the crew… hell I was sure I was looking at a ghost when I saw you in that alley." Garrus glanced at Shepard once more before shaking his head again. "Even now I have my doubts… Where have you been Shepard? Two years is a long time for someone to fall off the grid, especially someone as famous as you."

Shepard grinned, "Is that jealousy I hear Vakarian?"

"No Shepard, simply curiosity."

"Ah, my mistake then." Shepard's grin fell slightly as he glanced at Garrus's uncertain expression.

His shoulders sagged as he released a long drawn out sigh, "It wasn't my choice to leave Garrus and, believe it or not, you were not incorrect in thinking that I died with the Normandy." Shepard said, leveling his gaze on Garrus, as the turian's eyes seemed to narrow in disbelief. "I was dead for every day of these past two years Garrus. Cerberus brought me back."

"Disregarding the impossibility factor, I can't imagine many reasons why they would want the old Shepard back." Garrus said, glancing at the small Cerberus insignia on Shepard's chest plate. "I imagine it would do them more harm than good to have him running amok amongst their operatives."

Shepard sighed once more, "You think they're controlling me."

"Honestly it wouldn't surprise me."

Tearing his eyes away from Garrus's face, Shepard turned his head to the side. Really he couldn't blame Garrus for being suspicious, hell even he himself had been suspicious when he heard they had been tinkering with his mind. Even when Miranda had assured him that nothing had been done he still had his doubts.

"I don't have much of a choice Garrus." Shepard said, staring at the white wall of the lab with some amount of intensity. "I woke up lying on an operating table as the station I was resurrected in was being attacked by its own mechs. Not long after I find out that not only did Cerberus revive me, but also that my crew was essentially gone, broken up and dispersed throughout the galaxy. The Alliance wasn't going to be coming to my rescue anytime soon and the mechs weren't really willing to give me an opportunity to make a solo escape."

"Jacob was the first person I met after waking up and we fought together against the mechs. Cerberus or not, Jacob is either a really good guy or a really good liar." Shepard redirected his attention back toward Garrus. "Right from the start Cerberus gave me a common enemy and gave me someone to connect with. Soon after that I meet the Illusive Man. And, not only does he tell me that humanity is in trouble, but he also tells me that neither the Alliance nor the Council is doing anything to save it. Then he proved it by taking me to Freedom's Progress and introducing me to the Collectors."

"Honestly Garrus, I cannot be sure if they are deceiving me or not. But, the fact is that they're giving me very good reasons to say on board and if it does end up that I've been brainwashed I would want to have someone I trust there to slap some sense into me before it's too late."

Garrus looked away, "I can't join you this time Shepard I have my own team now. I may not be the best leader, but I'm the only thing they've got. I can't just abandon them after having gotten them into so much trouble."

"Actually you kind of have to."

Hands went to weapons as both Shepard and Garrus whirled around to face the new arrival.

"How long have you been listening?" Shepard demanded, lowering his pistol as he glared at the blond mercenary.

"Long enough to know why you asked that question." Naruto said, taking note of the fact Garrus had yet to lower his sniper rifle. "But, as I was saying. Garrus can no longer led his little band of misfits on their rampage through Omega."

"Really why is that?" Shepard asked.

"Because Shepard, didn't you hear? Archangel died two hours ago. Even if Garrus were to change his armor, wouldn't you find it odd that another turian just happened to turn up mere hours after the last one's death? The mercs here are stupid, but they're not senile."

"What about my team then?" Garrus said. "Do they have to disappear too?"

"My contract was to kill Archangel." Naruto said. "Not his team. If the mercs try to give me a tough time about it I could simply tell them that I don't work for free. That's what I have done before and that is what I will continue to do. But, as I said before, as far as the galaxy is concerned, Archangel is now dead."

Garrus flicked his head to the side as he gave himself to his thoughts.

"Speaking of Garrus's team, when are we going to make the trade?" Shepard asked, firing up his omni-tool before taping in a couple of commands.

Naruto shrugged, "Now is as good a time as any I guess. I'm going to be staying here a while anyways."

Garrus rose the turian equivalent of eyebrows as his mandibles spread open in a show of surprise, "You're going to be staying here?"

"Didn't you hear Garrus old pal." Naruto said smugly. "I just got a new contract. Quite a long one I may add."

"Damn it." Shepard mumbled.

His words were either not heard or ignored by the other two occupants of the room.

"What's the contract?" Garrus asked his eyes dead set on Naruto's as his mind began jumping to conclusions.

"I think we both know the answer to that." Naruto said. "After all you and Shepard were talking about it only a couple of minutes ago."

Offering Garrus a smirk before giving him a mock bow, Naruto spoke in a formal tone.

"Meet the newest crew member of the Normandy, Naruto Uzumaki at your service."

()

"Kasumi." Shepard greeted curtly as he entered the port observation deck making a beeline straight for the bar.

"Hard day at work Shepard." Kasumi said with mock sympathy, as she tracked him from her position on the sofa. "Omega does take its toll on newcomers."

"Omega is not the only thing." Shepard mumbled as he grabbed a glass before leaning against the counter.

Snatching a number of drinks from the shelf, Shepard glanced at the contrasting colors of the liquids for a moment before deliberately pouring each one into the glass.

"Does this have anything to do with our newest crewmate?" Kasumi asked.

"You heard about that too?"

"Word spreads fast." Kasumi said, watching as Shepard slammed back his beverage in one go. "And word of this new recruit is getting increasingly interesting."

"That so?" Shepard asked nonchalantly as he gazed into his recently emptied glass for a moment before taking a couple more drinks from the shelf.

"Yep. I decided to take a look at him for myself soon after you came back." Kasumi said.

"Why am I not surprised?" Shepard uttered, shaking his head wearily before gulping down his second drink.

"I never expected Cerberus would be able to rope such a well-known mercenary into joining, especially Naruto."

"Why's that." Shepard asked, absentmindedly swirling his empty glass as he stared at the surface of the counter.

Kasumi gave an unseen shrug, "I didn't think it was his style I guess."

"How would you know about his style?" Shepard asked, turning his attention away from the counter to look at her over his shoulder.

"We've met on occasion… Well sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Maybe met is not the right word, more like saw." She said. "Or more specifically, I saw him on one occasion."

Seeming to accept the answer, Shepard turned his attention back toward the counter. The room was filled with a still silence for a couple minutes as Shepard lost himself in his thoughts.

The silence was only broken when Shepard suddenly pushed his glass across the table before turning around.

"Kasumi."

"Yes."

"Didn't you say something about being a good judge of character?"

"I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have today without being one." Kasumi said. "Why?"

"I want to have a bit of an initiation for my newest crew member." Shepard said, his pupils slightly dilated from his recent activities as he offered her a slight grin. "Just to make sure he makes the cut."

()

AN: Well there's the chapter hope you liked it.

As always reviews are both encouraged and appreciated and, speaking of reviews, you guys have been really good about voicing your opinions and thoughts on the story progression. And, I had a thought to reward you for being so awesome.

So, while my beta Vandenbz and I are working on possibly getting you guys a stable system of updates every Saturday I'd at least give you something to look forward to when your reviewing. I figured I would give you guys an extra reward chapter once your reach one hundred and twenty five reviews.

Fun Fact: Twenty five is my favorite number.

Yeah so there's that…

Anyways, that is the deal, get to one hundred twenty reviews and you shall receive an extra chapter. Now don't get me wrong I'm not a slave driver and I don't expect you guys to do it before my next upload, but I know you guys are going to get there at some point, and I just want to give you some kind of reward when you do.

Until next time…


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is property of Bioware and Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, not me.

()

"How are they?" Garrus asked as he slunk into the medical bay.

Dr. Chakwas chuckled lightly as she looked back at him from her computer, "This is the third time you've checked in the past hour. I never knew you were such a mother hen Garrus, you never seemed the type."

"I suppose I'm just full of surprises." Garrus said, flashing her a weary grin as he gazed at each of his unconscious teammates with a faraway look in his eyes.

"They'll be fine Garrus." Dr. Chakwas said gently, typing a few commands into her computer before rising from her desk. "I've seen people recover from many worse injuries. You, Shepard, and Wrex to name a few… you three always were the most reckless. It seemed like every mission ended up with all three of you meeting up in my medical bay, mumbling "worth it" as soon as you realized you weren't in any real danger of dying."

Garrus chuckled, "Yeah, those were the days. It's too bad it couldn't stay that way."

"A shame, but I suppose life is dynamic. Not a day passes without something undergoing some change, no matter how small." Dr. Chakwas said, taking a position alongside Garrus. "And, speaking of change, you seem to have gone through quite a few since the last time we spoke."

Garrus gave her a fleeting glance, "I could say the same of you."

Dr. Chakwas simply smiled as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Well then we can talk all about it over a drink. I need to get you out of my medical bay so you don't continue to disturb my patients' sleep."

()

Shepard kept his lips in a thin line as he followed Naruto through the trash-ridden streets of Omega. Miranda and Jacob were not far behind him as they approached what Naruto assured him was Mordin's location.

"I can't believe this." Jacob mumbled bitterly, his eyes trained on the street. "Two mercenaries and a thief, those are our first three recruits?"

Shepard couldn't really blame him for being frustrated. Recent events hadn't exactly pleased him either.

"Don't sound so off put boy scout." Naruto said flashing him a mischievous smile as his head shot up in surprise. "I can't speak for the other two, but I know we have at least one professionally trained badass on this team." Naruto thumped his chest proudly. "With me here we'll be finished with this mission in no time."

Jacob frowned, "That is if no one decides to buy you off first. I don't care how good of a mercenary you are, if I have to worry about you stabbing me in the back over a handful of credits then you are not an asset."

"That's a bit one-dimensional don't you think boy scout." Naruto said condescendingly. "I thought you were trying to be a saint surely you could think of a better reason to hate someone than their loyalty to money."

"So if a guy betrays his teammates over the size of his next paycheck I'm not allowed to be angry?" Jacob said indignantly.

Naruto grinned, "I suppose an example is in order. I would like you all to meet a man named Bob. Bob here is an honest middle class man who works for the Alliance. Now, boy scout do you have a problem with Bob?"

Jacob rose an eyebrow, "No, why would I?"

"As I expected, now what would you say Bob is loyal to?"

"The Alliance."

"An adequate answer. Now, one day Bob hears that if he joined John's business he would be able to make twice as many credits as he makes in the Alliance. So, Bob resigns from the Alliance and joins John's business. Now I ask you boy scout, do you think Bob is evil?"

"No."

Naruto nodded, "I don't think so either. But then what would you say Bob is loyal to?"

"That is hardly the same thing." Jacob said. "I wouldn't have to worry about Bob killing me for his increased paycheck."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Money, Naruto." Jacob said. "He is loyal to money."

"Thank you Jacob, now on with the story. When Bob is working with John he meets a man named Dick. A couple months go by in his new job and Bob is awarded employee of the year because he is just such a good worker. But, one night when he was working overtime, he notices Dick is still at work. Curious, he follows Dick to the garage when he sees Dick letting in a couple of highly skilled robbers."

"Now, knowing he was the only other one in the building, Bob makes an attempt to call the police. But, before he can even get out of the garage, Dick notices him and pulls out a gun. Scared into obedience, Bob listens silently as Dick tells him about his plan to ransack the company. Saying that he didn't want things to get messy, Dick offers Bob a small share of the money if he stays silent about the operation. Bob accepts and keeps the secret for the rest of his life. John's company goes bankrupt within the next few months and thousands of people are put out of a job. So, what are your thoughts on Bob now Jacob?"

Jacob hesitated before Naruto spoke once more.

"Well, whatever they are they'll have to wait." Naruto said, directing his attention forward once more. "We've arrived."

"What are your orders, captain?" Naruto asked, breaking Shepard from his Bob related thoughts.

Smirking under his helmet, Shepard made a point of looking around. "I thought you said you were going to take us to Mordin's location… so where is the good doctor?"

Naruto deadpanned before pointing toward the door a few feet in front of them. "That way." He said blankly.

"Well then what are you waiting for?" Shepard asked. "Lead the way."

Naruto's finger then drifted toward the armed turian standing by the door.

"Your point?"

"The area is in quarantine Shepard. That guy isn't just going to let us waltz in there."

"So?" Shepard asked evenly. "I thought you were a badass, surely you can get past a single armed guard."

"Of course I can." Naruto said aggressively. "But then what are you guys going to do? I assumed you came along for a reason."

"Think of us as tagalongs." Shepard said. "We're just here to observe the badass in his natural habitat."

"My natural habitat does not include tagalongs." Naruto said, his voice quickly taking on a hostile tone. "I work alone. I can think of as many ways to get past that guard as there are pieces of trash on this street, but I can only do a tenth of them with a ball and chain strapped to my ankle."

"Well then show me those instead." Shepard said completely undeterred. "A badass should be able to cope with a couple of tagalongs."

"Oh I can cope wonder boy, but I'd rather not have a couple of parasites holding me down if I can help it." Naruto shrugged, fighting back a frown as he turned to approach the door. "But, if you're so insistent of seeing some of my abilities I suppose arguing with you about it would only make this take longer than it has to."

As Naruto strode toward the door, Shepard saw the guard make a shift his grip on his assault rifle before straightening out his posture.

"I'm afraid I can't-"

Cut off by a distinct whistle, the guard nearly missed it when a kunai lodged itself into the wall directly between his thighs.

"I'm sure you can."

()

"The guy was hardly able to scream before the tranquilizer knocked him out cold."

"That is terrible Garrus." Dr. Chakwas said, attempting to keep her smile hidden as a few guilty snickers worked their way through her lips. "What ended up happening to him?"

"They were eventually able to remove it, but it didn't come without consequences." Garrus said ominously before taking another drink. "I heard his girlfriend dumped him within the week."

The two shared a look before doubling over with laughter.

As the laugher died down a comfortable silence settled over the room, both Garrus and Dr. Chakwas taking a few minutes to simply appreciate the familiar atmosphere.

"So what are you going to do now?" Dr. Chakwas asked. "You said you can't stay with your team and I know for a fact you won't retire."

"What makes you say that?" Garrus asked. "I've already saved the galaxy once, I think I deserve an early retirement."

"And I deserve a normal one, but you don't see me playing bingo just yet." Dr. Chakwas said. "Besides, if you went a week without at least one life or death situation I'm almost certain you would go insane."

Garrus chuckled before taking another drink. "Well, I can't argue with that."

"You know, I'm pretty sure Shepard wouldn't mind letting you help him save the galaxy a second time if you're still interested."

"That so?" Garrus asked idly before emptying his glass.

She gave him an unseen nod as he looked into his glass with a distant stare. He had no idea how much he looked like Shepard did just a couple hours before.

"Where is Shepard?" Garrus asked suddenly, never looking up from his glass. "I haven't seen him around the ship since Naruto released my teammates."

"He said he took Naruto, Jacob, and Miranda out on a mission to recruit a salarian scientist." Dr. Chakwas said. "I can't remember his name, but I know Shepard did say something about an initiation for his newest crewmember." She chuckled, "Now that I think about it he did look a bit out of it."

Garrus raised an eyebrow.

"I have a feeling we weren't the only ones who stopped by the bar recently."

Garrus smiled fondly before placing his glass on the counter, "Did the salarian's name happen to be Mordin Solus?"

She looked at the ceiling in thought for a moment before giving him slow nod. "Yeah I think that was his name. How did you know?"

"Me and my team have terrorized countless thugs and mercenary groups both inside and outside of Omega for the past two years." Garrus said proudly. "I picked up a couple things."

"Anyways, I think I'm going to pay Shepard and his team a little visit." Garrus said, getting up from his stool. "I'll be damned if I don't get revenge on that little blond bastard for taking away my sniper rifle."

"But I thought the area had been struck by a plague exclusive to almost anything that wasn't a human." Dr. Chakwas said, her thoughts slightly hazy.

"I know." Garrus said smugly. "Just give me a helmet and I'll be fine. If Sovereign wasn't able to kill me, I challenge a plague to do better."

Dr. Chakwas shook her head, "Reckless as always… it's good to have you back Garrus. Just make sure to see me if any of your major organs start to fail."

Garrus smirked.

()

"Well what are you waiting for Mr. Badass, go get them." Shepard said, gesturing towards the two guards at the opposite end of the ruined square.

Naruto growled lowly before glaring at the man. "I'm going to tell you right now Shepard, if every mission ends up like this we are going to have problems."

A tense silence fell over the group as Shepard held Naruto's gaze for a moment before slowly pointing toward the two Blue Suns mercs once more.

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously before he turned to face the two hapless mercs as they continued their idle conversion.

"Fine Shepard." Naruto said, a malicious grin stretching across his face. "If you really want to see what I can do I suggest you watch closely."

()

"He said they held out for an hour before they were forced to fall back from the plaza." Expendable merc number one said.

"Man those vorcha are relentless." Expendable merc number two said wearily. "How long do you think it will take for the higher ups to realize this sector is a lost cause?"

"I don't know man, but I hope it's soon. This plague is claiming more lives than the damn vor-"

The dialogue was suddenly interrupted when a kunai entered the back of expendable one's head. Ignorant of the recent death of his acquaintance, expendable two was about to ask what was wrong when a blur of yellow and black came flipping out from behind his friend.

Instantly Two raised his assault rifle up to begin firing at the UFO when a leg suddenly popped out of the bottom of it and kicked him square in the visor.

His below average shields quickly popped as Two was sent sprawling onto the unforgiving concrete in a blurry haze. Scrambling back to his feet on instinct he was hardly able to gather his bearings before his assault rifle was torn from his grip and thrust into the bottom of his chin.

Thrown to the ground once more by the impact, Two reached out his arms to get up once more when he suddenly became aware of the fact that he couldn't move his right hand.

Still in somewhat of a haze, he turned his head in an attempt to look at it when a series of cracks suddenly meet his ears. Pain soon followed.

When Two next opened his eyes, he was staring into a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Hello." Naruto said pleasantly before yanking him onto his feet.

The merc hardly had time to stumble before Naruto delivered a devastating snap kick to his kneecap.

"I'm not in the best mood right now." Naruto said, ignoring Two's screams as he held him up by his collar.

Taking off the merc's helmet to get a proper view of his perfectly forgettable face, Naruto offered the man a smile before speaking once more.

"So, if you wouldn't mind, could you possibly call any of your nearby buddies over here? I need to release some pent up frustrations."

"My helmet." Two whimpered pathetically. "I need my communi-"

"Oh no, you won't be needing that." Naruto said, his eyes taking on a terrifying glint. "I'm sure your vocal cords will do just fine."

Shepard winced as a horrid, gut-wrenching noise reverberated through his helmet. The sound couldn't be properly labeled as a scream, but it got the message across all the same.

In only a matter of moments, four new mercs could be seen sprinting up an adjacent street.

"What the hell is going on?" One of them yelled, bringing his assault rifle to bear as they closed in on Naruto's position.

Naruto gave out a morbid chuckle as he gently lowered the traumatized mess of a merc onto the ground, allowing the man to crawl into the fetal position before he turned to face the approaching group.

Swiftly identifying the blond as a hostile when he gave them a chilling grin, the mercs wasted no time in unleashing a hail of bullets from their standard grade assault rifles.

Eight pairs of eyes widened as the bullets simply seemed to faze though his body.

"Hologram?" One of the mercs offered, weakly as Two released a timely scream.

"But he was hold-"

Three mercs whirled around as a strangled gasp resonated though their headsets.

"Howdy."

Four assault rifles came to life, masking the distinct pop of shields with a piercing chorus of gunfire. It wasn't until their guns overheated that the three mercs got a good view of their bullet-ridden teammate.

"Good job team." Naruto said slapping one of the mercs on the back as he popped a thermal clip out of his confiscated assault rifle. "We sure showed him."

Tearing his eyes way form the bloody mess on the floor as he attempted process exactly what had just been said, the merc was shocked to feel an object lodge itself into the base of his neck.

He never did realize it was the barrel of a gun.

Firing the assault rifle until it overheated, Naruto discarded it alongside the body before ducking under a merc's attempted pistol-whip. Producing a kunai from somewhere on his person before sweeping the man's legs out from under him, Naruto lunged kunai first at the other merc.

Panicked, the man lifted up his assault rifle to defend against Naruto's downward slash as the metal of the kunai began to glow a soft blue. Imagine the merc's surprise when the knife sliced his rifle in half.

"And then there was one." Naruto said, throwing the newly made corpse aside as he closed in on the final merc.

"Stay away from me." The man yelled savagely, unloading his entire thermal clip in Naruto's general direction as he attempted to crawl away.

Panting heavily as his assault rifle released an empty hiss, the merc made to get up when a blur at the edge of his vision froze him in place.

"Sorry man." Naruto said, ripping the gun out of his grip before yanking him onto his feet. "Blame my employer, he wanted a show."

The merc was hardly able to register the blond's words before a fist drove itself into his visor, easily shattering the relatively cheap material. Next came a kick that connected with his poorly made chest piece, cracking it and collapsing something else. Finally, a follow up punch to his face sent the man on his final journey.

"So Shepard, what did you think?" Naruto asked smugly.

Shepard crossed his arms as he surveyed the damage. "It took all that for you to defeat six common grunts." Shepard shook his head. "I thought you were supposed to be good."

"Oi." Naruto said, gritting his teeth as he slowly raised his fist up in rage. "I thought you wanted to see what I could do. Would you have rather I simply shoot them? Is that what your unoriginal ass was looking for?"

Shepard shrugged, "Okay I'll admit that was pretty interesting to watch, but it doesn't seem very practical."

"Shepard, there comes a point when practicality becomes secondary." Naruto said sagely. "And for me practicality isn't even on the list."

"That so?" Shepard asked. "So what is on the list?"

"Amusement, variety, excitement, and sex appeal!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes filled with a passionate fire.

Shepard sweat dropped, "That's quite the list."

"Wonder boy that is the best list and you will do well to remember it."

"Yeah I'll get right on that… But in the meantime Mordin won't be recruiting himself."

()

"Jacob, we're moving." Miranda said, knocking the man out of his stupor.

"Okay." Jacob said lowly, refusing to look up from the traumatized merc as he mumbled gibberish to himself. "What do you think he did to him?"

"I don't know, but for now we have a mission to complete." Miranda said, placing a hand on his shoulder before motioning towards the retreating backs of Naruto and Shepard.

Looking up from the broken man, Jacob gave her a stiff nod before drawing his pistol. Placing a round in between the merc's distant eyes, Jacob lingered for a moment before stalking off down the road.

Nearby a batarian died in silence, unwilling to draw the attention of the blond human as his body finally succumbed to the plague.

()

The Blue Suns merc grunted with exertion as he thrust the butt of his rifle into the stomach of the vorcha before it was able to make a snap at his face. The damn things were as savage as varren.

Firing a couple rounds in the top of its skull before it could recover, the merc quickly ducked back into his cover before his shields overheated under the constant onslaught of bullets. Leaning back against the grainy concrete slab, as he took a moment to catch his breath the turian turned his attention toward the blood red mist obscuring the metal ceiling.

How in the hell had he got himself into this position? The question had hardly entered his mind when a hacking cough tore through his lungs, splattering a bit of blood against the bottom of his helmet and prompting him to simply remove the device from his head.

Popping out of his cover to lay down some suppressing fire on the incoming horde of vorcha while he attempted to mask the rising pain in his chest, the merc chuckled bitterly when a familiar sound his met his ears. Ducking back under his cover the turian's eyes tracked the spent thermal clip as it skipped across the street.

Carelessly discarding his assault rifle as he snatched a pistol off of his dead comrade, the turian swallowed back another rising cough. He was going to die anyways, may as well do it in a blaze of glory. And nothing said blaze of glory like a head-on charge with a pistol.

The turian smirked forlornly, after all that was the way of his people.

Hardening his features before boldly leaping over his cover, the turian swung his pistol in front of him before unleashing exactly three rounds. It was after he fired the third that he realized he was the only one shooting.

His face contorted into one of utter confusion as he paned his gaze around the ruined plaza, taking in the pile of dead vorcha scattered haphazardly around the streets. What the hell had he just missed?

()

"How do you do that?" Shepard asked curiously as he entered the plaza. "You always seem to teleport everywhere. Are you using holograms and cloaks or-"

"Ah ah ah Shepard." Naruto said, wagging his finger as he walked out of the shadow of a fallen piece of concrete. "That's a trade secret."

"Right." Shepard said slowly as he approached the fallen turian in the middle of the plaza. "What about these little knives of yours are they a secret too?"

"It's a kunai Shepard." Naruto said flatly. "You might have some trouble finding them in the common market, but it's still just a pointy piece of metal. Hardly a secret."

"So you wouldn't mind if I took this?" Shepard asked, dislodging the kunai from its new home enticing a strange look from Naruto.

"Sure, but with blue turian brain goo all over it?" Naruto asked cringing in disgust. "That's just nasty Shepard. It wouldn't be that hard to find one on the Internet or something. In fact I could just give you a new one if you're that needy."

"What?" Shepard asked, dropping the kunai indignantly. "You just punched a guy's face in a few minutes ago and you're going to say this is nasty. You made a guy's head explode with an assault rifle, I'm surprised you're not covered in brain goo right now." Shepard took a moment to scratch his chin in thought. "Actually now that I think about it how do you not have a single drop of blood on you? And, while we're on the subject, why do you insist on not wearing armor?"

"Style Shepard." Naruto said sagely. "If you would refer back to the list, this would fall into the excitement and sex appeal categories. The ladies will love it if you're able to kick a fully armored merc's ass while wearing fashionable clothing and you can raise your heart rate by doing it. Great cardio."

"I'll remember that." Shepard said blandly. "And the blood."

"Trade secret!"

"Shepard, I think we've found something."

Naruto and Shepard shared a look before they began walking in the direction of Jacob's voice.

"What is it?" The commander asked, careful not to step on one of the multiple bodies scattered across the floor. It was a task that was proving to be quite challenging at the moment.

"Don't know, but we can hear noises coming from inside this house." Jacob said, leaning gently against the doorway of one of the more devastated buildings in area.

The sidewall of the structure looked like it took one too many grenades, sporting what would have been a massive hole if a large section of the top floor hadn't collapsed to fill it up. In fact the front corner of the building had simply given way into little more than a massive pile of rubble and steel.

All of the windows on the top floor of the two story structure were gone, presumably shattered by the concussive forces of one of the explosions that had served to fill the burning plaza with numerous craters and potholes. What Shepard assumed had been a balcony seemed to have simply snapped off the building, lying precariously on the brick awning covering the front door.

Even with the other, more intact houses adjacent to the building as a reference, Shepard had a hard time imagining that the devastated structure in front of him had ever been capable of housing anything.

"It could be some survivors." Jacob said, breaking Shepard from his thoughts. "I think we should go take a look."

"I guess it couldn't hurt." The commander said eyeing the fallen balcony as he tentatively approached the door.

"Hey I thought you were supposed to be the silent observers here only to judge my worth as you rode along on my coattails." Naruto said impatiently. "I don't want you adding to my workload."

"If there is a chance there are survivors in here I would gladly save them myself." Shepard said calmly, cutting off any rebuttal from Jacob. "You don't even have to step foot inside the building, just wait for us to get out."

Naruto shook his head, "Don't even bother. They're just looters anyway."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a badass." Naruto said evenly as he strode towards the door. "Don't believe me? Inside this building we will find two men in the kitchen raiding the fridge of the dead turian owner."

As soon as he finished his proclamation, Naruto kicked in the door causing the entire structure to sway dangerously on what little foundation it had left. Once he was sure the building wasn't in danger of immediate collapse, Shepard followed Naruto inside.

He was amazed at what he found.

Just to the left of the doorway, two men were on the other side of a kitchen counter. One of the men had his gun drawn as he sized them up and his partner looked like he was just removing his upper body from the open refrigerator along the left wall. And, right in front of the counter they were both standing behind, a dead turian was lying on the floor in some expensive-looking civilian clothes.

Surprisingly it was Miranda that broke the momentary silence.

"How did y-"

"I'm a badass remember." Naruto said turning to face the two bewildered looters, his eyes glinting as a grin slowly spread across his face. "Now let me show you how a badass does it."

Sensing danger in the look, the armed looter made to pull the trigger of his cheap pistol when a blur of black suddenly blocked his vision.

It was pure instinct that placed his hand in between the kunai and his face.

"Naruto!" Shepard bellowed, hurling himself in between him and the two looters as the man screamed in agony.

The looter's pistol clattered to the floor as the man stared at his impaled hand, his mouth agape in incomprehensive shock. Right behind him his partner froze in fear, debating what to do. Seeing Miranda's pistol trained on his head, the man opted to stay frozen.

Meanwhile, Naruto raised his hands up disarmingly, feigning innocence. "What?"

Shepard's eyes narrowed before he turned toward the two looters. Motioning for Miranda to lower her weapon, Shepard spoke to them curtly.

"Treat his wound with medi-gel then start heading toward Mordin's clinic, by the time you're ready we will have already cleared the way for you." Shepard said, pausing for a moment as the uninjured looter hesitated. "Do you know where it is?"

The man gave a slow nod, prompting Shepard to point to the door.

Getting the hint, the man hastily threw his gasping friend's arm over his shoulder and proceeded to exit the building, stopping only long enough to notice Naruto's continuous grin before doubling his pace.

Naruto shook his head, "Why was he helping him? It's not like his legs were injured."

"You probably sent the man into shock. I wouldn't trust him to walk by himself either." Jacob said shooting him a glare.

"Pussy." Naruto muttered loudly.

"Jacob, Miranda." Shepard said, gesturing toward the door before looking at Naruto. "We need to talk."

Nodding obediently, the two were quick to make their exit, minding the new piece of rubble that seemed to have fallen from the awning during their brief stay.

A couple tense seconds ticked by as Shepard allowed the two some time to put enough distance between them and the house. Once he was satisfied that they had been given enough time, he spoke gravely.

"That was my fault."

Naruto's eyebrows rose in confusion, "How'd you figure? If you think you could have prevented me from throwing my first kunai then I'm afraid you're quite mistaken. Maybe after a few visits to the gym, but…"

Naruto trailed off as Shepard shook his head.

"If the orders are unclear then it is the fault of the commander not the soldier." Shepard said whimsically, giving the ceiling a distant gaze as he recalled some fond memory.

It was a look Naruto hadn't experienced in quite a long time.

"Sun Tzu." Naruto said.

Now it was Shepard's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"How did you know that?"

Naruto shrugged offhandedly, "I've been around."

The commander nodded slowly, seeming to accept the answer.

"An old friend told me that soon after I became a part of the Normandy's crew." Shepard said. "I told you that I wanted you to do what you would normally do on this mission and you did just that so therefore I cannot hold you accountable. But, for the rest of the mission, make sure you leave any situations that don't involve hostiles to me."

"Hey he was holding a gun." Naruto said defensively.

"Any situations that involve civilians." Shepard amended before pausing in thought. "And the local police force. I still kind of regret letting you do that to them."

Naruto grinned, prompting Shepard release a guilty chuckle from under his helmet.

"You know Shepard, you seem way too… lenient to be the Alliance's lap dog." Naruto said tilting his head curiously. "You should hate me, or you should at least be intensely passive aggressive towards me considering our short past. It's hard to believe you are this quick to change."

"You are no longer my enemy." Shepard said. "So long as the Illusive Man has you under his contract I have your skillset at my disposal. And I may as well use it for good while I can."

"I'm impressed Shepard." Naruto said earnestly. "I can't honestly say I saw that coming."

"I'm a hero Mr. Badass, what did you expect?" Shepard asked with mock smugness. "Besides, ever heard of a guy named Urdnot Wrex?"

()

AN: Well there's the chapter hope you liked it.

So, what do you think about Bob?

Until next time…


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